Show Notes
What if being brilliant, successful, and disciplined still isn’t enough to save you from fear, obsession, and self-destruction?
From the outside, Lisa’s life looked enviable—PhD, postdoctoral research at a leading medical school, and a rising career in behavioral health. But beneath the surface, she was unraveling: anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, and relentless obsessive fear followed her for years.
Convinced that intelligent, rational people didn’t need God, Lisa tried everything except faith. It wasn’t until desperation forced her to confront the limits of her own limits that she became open, reluctantly, to the possibility she might be wrong.
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Guest Bio:
Dr. Lisa Stanton is a social psychologist, researcher, and writer. With a PhD in social psychology and a career in behavioral health, she brings a rare blend of empirical insight and personal honesty to questions of identity, meaning, and human flourishing. Her recent work centers on her personal experiences in recovery from not only addiction, but also eating disorders, anxiety conditions, ADHD, irritable bowel syndrome, alopecia areata, and more. Lisa writes at drlisastanton.com, shares reflections on Instagram at @drlisastanton.
Resources Mentioned:
Lisa’s Resources:
• Website: drlisastanton.com
• Instagram: @drlisastanton
• Book: 52 Life-Changing Lessons I Learned in Recovery: A Journey Towards Sobriety, Honesty, and Radical Forgiveness
Lisa’s recommended resources:
• Alpha Course – https://www.alpha.org
• Bible Study Fellowship - https://www.bsfinternational.org
• Wes Huff, Christian Apologist - https://www.wesleyhuff.com
Atheists Finding God: https://exskeptic.org/atheistsfindinggod/
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Twitter: http://x.com/exskeptic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@exskeptic
Email info: [email protected]
Chapters
00:00 From Skepticism to Freedom 03:39 Meet Dr. Lisa Stanton 04:50 Taking Her Faith Public 06:68 Growing Up Confused About God 11:23 When Suffering Made God Seem Impossible 16:51 Driven by Fear and Achievement 20:10 Faith, College, and the “God of Rationality” 22:26 How Academia Reinforced Her Secular Worldview 27:11 Anxiety, OCD, and Eating Disorders 29:38 Addiction and the Cycle She Couldn't Break 32:23 Desperation Becomes the Turning Point 34:35 COVID and Drinking Around the Clock 37:18 The First Step Toward Sobriety 40:53 The Recovery Meeting That Changed Everything 42:21 “I Need to Know Your Secret” 45:15 The Day She Surrendered to God 48:18 What Changed After Surrender 50:30 Finding Freedom Through Faith and Forgiveness 54:56 Is Christianity Actually True? 59:36 How to Begin the Journey Toward Truth 01:02:45 Advice for Christians 01:06:40 Closing
eX-skeptic transcript
Jana Harmon
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